Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on the Federal Government to fulfil its financial obligations to resident doctors amid plans for industrial action.
He warned that failure to meet agreed commitments could further weaken the country’s already strained healthcare system.
PUNCH Healthwise reports that the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors announced an indefinite nationwide strike set to begin at 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
The association cited the Federal Government’s alleged plan to halt the implementation of the revised Professional Allowance Table, a key component of agreements reached following its 2025 industrial action.
The decision, which threatens to disrupt services across public hospitals, was reached during NARD’s virtual Extraordinary National Executive Council meeting on April 4.
Reacting to the planned strike in a post on his X handle, Atiku criticised what he described as the government’s failure to honour agreements reached with medical professionals.
“The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors should not have to beg for what has already been agreed upon. The Federal Government signed a deal on the Professional Allowance Table, and now it wants to abandon it. This is not governance; it is betrayal,” he said.
The former vice president said resident doctors play a critical role in sustaining healthcare delivery despite difficult working conditions.
Atiku said, “Our resident doctors are the last line of defence in hospitals that are already collapsing. They work gruelling hours, in impossible conditions, for pay that insults their sacrifice. And now, the government seeks to take away the little that was promised?”
He urged the administration of President Bola Tinubu to address key issues affecting doctors, including unpaid allowances and stalled training funds.
“The Tinubu administration must demonstrate commitment to these issues: 19 months of unpaid Professional Allowance arrears; promotion arrears gathering dust; a Medical Residency Training Fund stuck in bureaucratic limbo; and a government that treats its doctors as an afterthought and remains unconcerned as they flee the country in droves,” Atiku said.
The former VP further linked the ongoing migration of Nigerian doctors to poor welfare and unmet obligations by the government.
“Every doctor Nigeria loses to the UK, Canada, or Saudi Arabia is a failure of leadership, not a failure of patriotism. You cannot ask people to serve a nation that refuses to honour its own word,” he said.
Atiku expressed support for the doctors, urging the Federal Government to act swiftly to avert disruption in healthcare services.
“I stand with NARD. Pay what you owe. Honour what you signed. Or explain to 200 million Nigerians why their hospitals will go dark on Tuesday,” he said.
